Keiki under 10 years old need two doses of H1N1 vaccine for maximum protection. Vaccine supplies are plentiful, so everyone is encouraged to get vaccinated.
Children over 10 and adults need only one dose.
How the 2009 H1N1 Vaccine Campaign Will Work in Hawaii:
-updated on Oct. 7, 2009
Register Vaccination Providers (includes primary care providers, retail pharmacy chains, university clinics, large medical group practices, community health centers, hospitals, etc.).
Vaccine doses allocated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on ~weekly basis according to vaccine dose availability and proportion of state to national population. Hawaii represents 0.42% of the national population.
Certain number of fixed direct ship-to sites (i.e., vaccine distributed directly from distributor to site for use) assigned to each state. Such sites must be able to receive at least 100 doses per shipment.
For non-ship-to sites, vaccine ordered and sent to either main Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) offices on Oahu or appropriate HDOH District Health Office (DHO), which then arranges distribution to those sites.
September 30, 2009, vaccine ordering opened for all states. Ordering continues on a rolling basis up to total allocated amount.
Most states, including Hawaii, will not order maximum allocation amounts for various reasons (e.g. not all providers orders received, choose to depot large numbers of vaccines with distributor until needed to save storage space, etc.). Any doses remaining from each allocation held in keeping for each respective state (similar to having credit).
Vaccine shipped as doses become available and as fast as distributor able to coordinate shipping.
The week of October 5, 2009, small amount of early vaccine doses (live weakened virus, or nasal spray) shipped to all states.
Primary targets for early doses: healthcare workers, emergency medical service personnel (i.e., ambulance crews and fire department personnel), and critical infrastructure personnel (those determined by State and County Civil Defense Agencies to be critical to ensuring continuity of operations in the state), who are also healthy, not pregnant, and younger than age 50 years.
First major vaccine shipments (i.e., including both live weakened virus/nasal spray and inactivated virus/shot) projected to begin likely next week.
Everyone should be vaccinated, but everyone has a turn in line.
Caretakers of infants less than 6 months (these young infants cannot receive the vaccine – it doesn’t work in them)
Anyone from ages 25 through 64 years who has an underlying chronic medical condition that would predispose them to complications from flu infection
Healthcare workers and emergency medical service personnel who have direct patient contact
HDOH will monitor vaccine uptake through all vaccination providers.
HDOH will notify the public through this HDOH H1N1 website, 211, and the media when it is your turn to get vaccinated and where. Please do not ask vaccination providers yet if and when they will receive H1N1 vaccine; they will not know.
At this time, some doses of the live weakened virus (i.e., nasal spray) are available among a few community vaccinators. Please check the link at the top of this page (Where to Get Your 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccination) for details. Anyone fulfilling the criteria listed above for “first in line” and who is healthy and not pregnant are eligible to receive the nasal spray presentation of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine.
The H1N1 vaccine and associated supplies are being provided free through the federal government. However, providers are allowed to charge an administration fee billable to insurers or to the patient.
HDOH will also hold school-located H1N1 vaccination clinics starting in mid-November to offer the vaccine free of charge for kids in grades K-8 at all participating public and private schools across the state. These will be in addition to the regular Stop Flu at School (http://www.stopfluatschool.com/) clinics starting in mid-October for the seasonal flu vaccine. Consent forms for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine will be going home to parents the week of October 19th.
2009 H1N1 flu vaccinations at school-located clinics are only available to enrolled students, faculty, and staff at the respective participating school on the day of the school’s scheduled clinic. There will be no make-up or additional clinic days scheduled, and students, faculty, and staff cannot present to another school for vaccination. Students who miss their scheduled clinic should contact their primary care provider for vaccination.
Please note that if you plan for your child to receive the nasal spray form of both the regular seasonal flu vaccine and the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine, they cannot be given on the same day and must be separated by at least 4 weeks. If your child is receiving both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccination through the Stop Flu in School vaccination project, the proper interval will be ensured. In contrast, the shot (injectable) form of both the regular seasonal and the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccines or a shot of one and a nasal spray of the other can be given on the same day or separately at any time.
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